Amato Gelato Cafe — Restaurant in Vancouver

We’ve been regulars at Amato Gelato Café in Vancouver — my 8-year-old daughter’s go-to treat after ballet classes, visiting once or twice a week. But after today, we won’t be coming back.

She asked to try two new flavours before deciding, and the staff told us we had to pay first before any tasting. That’s not just disappointing — it felt like they were implying we might ask for samples and not buy anything. We’ve never experienced a policy like this at any gelato shop — and we’ve been to many around the world.

Because of this, I only got her a one-scoop kid’s size, unsure if she’d like any other flavours besides cotton candy. Ironically, she loved the pineapple — we would’ve happily bought two scoops if they’d just let her try it first.

We’ve visited gelato and ice cream shops all over the world, and not a single one had a policy like this. Everywhere else, the experience is friendly and welcoming — samples are offered happily so you can actually enjoy choosing....

Love the after 8 ice cream in this place. Came here especially for it. My husband on the other hand did not know what flavour he wanted. Due to their one way system, we had to choose what size we wanted BEFORE we were allowed to even look at the flavours. This seems really weird to me. How are you supposed to know what you want before you have even looked? I might for instance, think I only want one scoop but when I see the flavours, want two. Or I might look at the flavours and decide my favourite one is not there and I actually don’t want anything.... Surely the one way system should be the other way around so that you can look at the flavours, choose what you want and then pay. Anyway, good ice cream, average customer service and in my opinion a silly one way system gives this place a 3 stars.

One more thing. It would be great if they had the option of a hand picked pint on their skip...

We could not try any flavours until AFTER we commited to what we wanted and paid for it. This was a silly move because ALL of us ended up getting single cones when, if we’d been able to sample ice creams, might’ve gotten doubles.

AFTER we’d paid for our single ice cream cones and had sampled a couple of ice creams, we were told we could not sample any more— two samples was the limit! No, there were no signs to this effect. No, they did not mention this as we began sampling. We were cut off when we were just getting started! Now, I’m not one to take advantage of samples— I’m guessing i may have had maybe six in total, to actually decide which of the 72 i wanted to have. Nope, only two.

This was the silliest ice cream experience I’ve ever had. I’ve never been to an ice cream shop proud of its wide number of flavours that will not let...